curlyrayfan - Posted - 04/11/2009:  07:43:42

I've never been able to do this...is that a bad thing. I've progressed quite far on the fiddle but being able to count or subdivide the beats in my head has been a weak point of mine. I always listen to the guitar player or bass player to keep my time..

Is this bad? Should I learn how to subdivide? or can I keep going as I always have?

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“I''ve always called my music old time mountain music or old time bluegrass music. I wouldn''t have it any other way."
-Ralph Stanley

hanknc - Posted - 04/11/2009:  07:56:58

Tap your foot while you play.

banjologist - Posted - 04/11/2009:  09:51:43

Keep on jamming! Sometimes it takes quite a few years; took me ages! but now I can do it subconsciously; EG hear the extra beat- making 8 &1/2 bars in the B part of Clinch Mtn backstep.

jehanna - Posted - 04/11/2009:  11:20:26

You know if you are playing in time with everyone else and are happy with what you hear (I assume you are not trying to read music) I just would not worry about it. When I play bass in a jam setting I am responsible to keep the rhythm steady, even though the "one and uh do two" don' t (usually) apply to the instrument I am still aware of them. Give me a fiddle , or any other melody instrument, and I listen to fit in, no longer my job to keep horses in the coral.
What is going to happen when you do count and it does not match what everyone else is doing?

The devil went down to Georgia
the coyotes have moved here too
http://www.sebabluegrass.org

ChickenMan - Posted - 04/11/2009:  14:25:58

For most, it's less about "count" and more about "feel" which is where tapping the foot comes in.
Unless you are required to "rest" (not play) for X number of measures/bars, counting is rarely an issue.


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"Music makes time audible" - Suzanne Langer

scrubber - Posted - 04/11/2009:  14:34:31

quote:

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Originally posted by curlyrayfan

Should I learn how to subdivide?

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bsed - Posted - 04/11/2009:  17:41:10

You know, after a while you just "get it". That is, I think you get an instinctive knowledge of how to count. It just comes with experience.
One case in point: I play a tune that has a short A-part repeated 8 TIMES! Now, I can either count how many A-parts I've played up to 8, or I can just use my inner sense of timing take over. Sometimes I do both (just to be sure).

Just call me Dwight.

woodwiz - Posted - 04/11/2009:  17:46:25

Lucky you! I have a hard time counting to 2 some days!

Michael R

www.kcstrings.com
"You''ll love the way you sound"

"Thank you for the wonderful violin you made. I''ve used it on every show I''ve played since I''ve got it." John Hartford

Dick Hauser - Posted - 04/11/2009:  20:02:49

Use a rhythm device (metronome, drum machine, "band in a box") or something when you practice. It looks like you are a bluegrass fiddler. When you play those long slurs you have to get every note just right. You need the rhythm device to help educate your foot and train your "internal timer".

If you read notation, continue.

The book "Essentials for Strings" by Gerald Anderson has some exercises that will teach you how to handle any situation you will come across. When you first start doing the exercises, put your fiddle aside. Use a metronome, clap your hands, and tap your foot. After you can do the exercises without a fiddle, do the exercises with your fiddle.

gulfguy

curlyrayfan - Posted - 04/12/2009:  20:22:12

thanks for the repsonses...i can keep time well, but i was just wondering if I was missing out on an important thing

_______________________________________________________________

“I''ve always called my music old time mountain music or old time bluegrass music. I wouldn''t have it any other way."
-Ralph Stanley

fiddlenbanjo - Posted - 04/13/2009:  02:01:44

I have to count on certain tunes in certain places, particularly when there's a looonng note or pause. In bluegrass there are many of these places, especially if you are copying a fiddle solo from a record. You are forcing yourself to learn and play according to another person's feel and timing. It can be hard to do. Even though the melody of the song may be simple, the fiddle break may feel crooked and not conform to your own ideas of chord and meter. This is when I have to really force myself to count out the beats.

bj - Posted - 04/13/2009:  07:57:14

I don't count, at least not consciously. I just listen listen listen listen to the piece I wanna learn that has challenging timing. Eventually it worms its way in there by osmosis and eventually comes out my bow.

I love noisy jam circles since it's easy to hear the beat. :-)

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